mind heart body
by MixItUp
Summary: A love story in three stages. Ryella. GabriellaxOC. Troyella. Fluff. Oneshot.


**mind, heart, and body**

_: a love story in three stages_

Gabriella's first crush was on her fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Jonathan Roland, who taught at Ridgeway Elementary in Arkansas. He was honest, young, fresh-faced, and although he wasn't traditionally handsome, something shone in him that just entranced her. His gray eyes were vibrant, and his entire face lit up when he described some concept to his class. She completely adored him.

Always a good student, Gabriella was soon found pursuing her academic interests outside of the classroom. Her mother was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, when her daughter began to read recreationally and to work math problems on her own.

He would be funny and proper. She loved the look on his face when she'd raise her hand and he'd call on her with a "Yes, Ms. Montez?". The beaming girl would spout out the answer, and nearly lost her mind every time his mouth split into a grin when she answered correctly. Mr. Roland had a true love for learning, and Gabriella had what she was convinced was a true love for Mr. Roland. The other girls teased her for liking a _teacher_, because by that time in the schoolgirl life cycle it was unfashionable. Their older sisters were falling over themselves for the older boys, and while several of the girls were still convinced that all boys who weren't old enough to be their fathers had cooties, puppy love was starting to spring up among the younger set. Gabriella, never popular, ignored their criticism. "I'm in love," she would say dreamily.

Halfway through the school year, Mrs. Montez set a stack of familiar cardboard boxes on Gabriella's bed, sorrowfully breaking the news to her daughter that they were moving to Michigan. The young girl cried herself to sleep that night.

In her overly romantic mind, she vowed never to fall in love with any boy (or man) ever again, although she still treasured the thought of her little "love story". Although there was no teacher as exciting or helpful as Mr. Roland in Michigan, Gabriella's love for learning did not extinguish. What had been started by Jonathan could not be stopped; she was a veritable machine. Mr. Jonathan Roland had set her mind on fire.

Gabriella's second crush was on the person who would come to mean almost more to her than she could stand. Troy Bolton, East High Wildcat extraordinaire, known to some as "lunkhead basketball boy". He was unspeakably attractive, with a dazzling grin that would melt any girl's heart. The resident golden boy, and, despite her misgivings, she was infatuated.

He _sang_. He made her want to sing. Her heart sang: in class, when he'd turn and smile at her; during rehearsals, when his eyes would glimmer at her above his sheet music. She wanted so desperately to kiss him, to hold him, to be able to proclaim to all of East High: "Troy Bolton is mine."

That day came to pass, but their relationship, however perfect she deluded herself that it was, was rocky at best. While their love for music and theatre united them, their worlds could not have been any more different. Troy was a family guy, a sports guy, who could care less about grades or solitude or poetry, the things that Gabriella thrived upon; and she, in her turn, could not understand what made him want to be around people so much, how he could stand crowds cheering for him.

Whenever she was burned out on Troy, she would let a good romance novel or chick flick wash over her, letting her heart get caught up in somebody else's romance. She could no longer live without it; it was as essential as air to her. How had she avoided this for so long?

While they stayed together, she knew in her heart that it was no great romance, nothing like what she desired, and nothing like what he deserved. They finally broke up, and stayed good friends. Gabriella would always have to credit Troy, for all his flaws, for being the guy to change her mind about romance. What had been started by Troy could not be stopped; she craved love, now. Troy Bolton had set her heart on fire.

Gabriella's third crush happened, most depressingly, during her relationship with Troy, and it focused on a most unlikely person. Yes, Ryan Evans, co-president of the Drama Club, flamboyant dresser and even more flamboyant dancer, owner of the most alluring hips Gabriella had ever seen. She was completely given over.

At first, it was just his body, and that she could deal with. She was not so cold as to be completely unattracted to anybody before arriving at East High; still, nobody had made her tingle the way that Ryan could. Just looking at him made a warm blush spread across her cheeks, and she only prayed that Troy wouldn't pick up on her unexpectedly overwhelming attraction to the other boy.

During the summer, when she and Troy were "on the outs", Ryan Evans took the opportunity to steal her heart as well, and that was a great deal harder to cope with. He made her feel more alive than she'd ever known when they danced, but one day he shot her a smile and kissed her hand, and she realized that their friendship had just become something a bit more, whether or not he was aware of the change.

Still, she held resolutely onto her mind, something that Troy had never been able to conquer. Yes, her mind stayed firmly in Jonathan's grasp, until one day when she was absentmindedly discussing poetry with Ryan and he showed her a composition of his own. His hand brushed hers, and her body screamed. He smiled at her, and her heart soared. She read the words, and her mind too was given over to the fever. Ryan Evans had set her body on fire, but he had also put her heart and mind under his spell. There was no going back, but she found that she really didn't want to do so. She knew with whom she wanted to spent the rest of her life.


End file.
